Ibrahima Kassory Fofana

Ibrahima Kassory Fofana, (born 15 April 1954) is a Guinean politician who has been Prime Minister of Guinea since 21 May 2018.

Ibrahima Kassory Fofana
Prime Minister of Guinea
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 May 2018
President	Alpha Condé
Preceded by	Mamady Youla
State minister in charge of investments and public-private partnerships
In office 2014–2018
Minister of economy and finance
In office 1997–2000
Personal details
Born	15 April 1954 Forécariah, French Guinea, French West Africa
Nationality	Guinean
Political party	RPG
Alma mater	Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry

A macro-economist and specialist in economic policy, he previously held several strategic positions in the Guinean administration, including State minister for investments and public-private partnerships under the presidency of Alpha Condé and minister of economy and finance under the presidency of Lansana Conté, and was candidate for the 2010 presidential elections.

Biography

Ibrahima Kassory Fofana was born in Forécariah (Lower Guinea) into a peasant family descended from Muslim imams.

Early life

A graduate with honours of the Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry, in 1978 he joined the research department of the ministry of international cooperation as deputy director. Later, he rose in the ministry of planning and cooperation to become director of international cooperation (1986) and director of public Investments (1991).

Ministerial rise

He then enjoyed a meteoric rise in the first circle of the Guinean president Lansana Conté, over whom he enjoyed great influence.[1] In 1994 as minister without portfolio, he was general administrator in charge of major national projects and oversaw the restructuring of state-owned companies and the economic reforms necessary to shift the Guinean economy from a socialist to a liberal model.[2] He became in 1996 minister for the budget and the restructuring of the parapublic sector.

He was promoted in 1997 to become minister of economy and finance, a key position he held until 2000. He was able to successfully carry out a structural adjustment program with the IMF and the World Bank. He also initiated the first anti-corruption program in Guinea, which led to arrests and court cases against the executives concerned, and a program to clean up the civil service list which resulted in savings of billions of Guinean francs for the public treasury.

During this time he was also Guinea's governor at the African Development Bank (1996-2000) and Guinea's administrator at the International Monetary Fund (1998-2000). He was also member of the Board of many Guinean private and public companies.

Exile and entry into politics

In 2000 he left government for reasons said to include conflict with the army over its expenses,[3] and manipulation orchestrated against him by the entourage of President Lansana Conté. He decided to go abroad, first to Senegal and then to the United States.

In 2002 in the United States, he obtained a postgraduate doctorate in development, finance and banking from the American University in Washington and became international consultant.

In 2009, under the military transition after the death of President Lansana Conté, he returned to Conakry and created the Guinea for All party (GPT), which was notable in the Guinean political landscape for its categorical rejection of ethnic favoritism. One of the 24 candidates in the first Guinean democratic presidential election of 2010, he presented a program focused on improving governance, decentralization and regional integration, ranking 11th in the first round with 0.66% of the vote. In the second round, he chose to vote in favor of Alpha Condé, who won the ballot with 52.52% of the votes.

He later split with his former ally amid disagreements over the disputed organization of the country's first democratic parliamentary elections.[4] He fought alongside the opposition for holding transparent elections and took part in street demonstrations.[5]

President Alpha Condé’s ally

In the aftermath of the September 2013 legislative elections, where GPT obtained one seat out of 114, he re-established friendly relations with Alpha Condé who had asked for his help with the country's economic recovery. He decided to make a useful alliance by joining the presidential camp.[6][7]

In 2014, he became State Minister in charge of investments and public-private partnerships at the Administration of President Alpha Condé. In this strategic - and newly created - post, he coordinated efforts at home and abroad to mobilize the resources necessary for prioritizing investments.[8] He was behind the diversification of partnerships towards emerging countries, such as China, from which he obtained $20 billion in investments.[9]

He was campaign director for President Alpha Condé in the October 2015 Guinean presidential election,[10] for which his GPT party did not present a candidate.

In May 2018, he dissolved GPT and joined the RPG-Arc-en-Ciel, the ruling coalition.

Prime minister

On 21 May 2018 Ibrahima Kassory Fofana was appointed by President Alpha Condé Prime Minister of Guinea. He announced an ambitious poverty reduction program aimed at lifting 40% of Guineans, which represents six million people, out of extreme poverty by 2025.[11]

References

1. "Retour à l'école – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 2003-02-11. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
2. "Tackling poverty is No. 1 priority - New African Magazine". newafricanmagazine.com. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
3. "Que peut faire l'armée ? – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
4. "Guinea: A Way Out of the Election Quagmire". Crisis Group. 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
5. "Guinée: des milliers d'opposants ont manifesté sans incident". RFI (in French). 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
6. "7 VÉRITÉ avec Dr. Ibrahima Kassory Fofana".
7. "Ibrahima Kassory Fofana - Netinfo". netinfo.tv (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-23.
8. "Les " Partenariats Publics-Privés ", supports à la croissance guinéenne ?". La Tribune (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-23.
9. "Mines : la Chine et la Guinée signent un accord à 20 milliards de dollars – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
10. "GUINEA: NEW GOVERNMENT TO HOLD THE COURSE". Africa Practice. 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
11. Sow, Nassiou (2018-06-27). "Déclaration de politique générale au parlement: Kassory s'engage à poursuivre le dialogue social". Guinéenews© (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-23.